Old Photos : Northern Freshwater Fishing

Spook · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 9:24 am Post subject: Old Photos

I was going through my Fishin' photos and in the archives came across a couple worth sharing

Myself and Mal Florence in the freshwater way upstream in Barrattas Creek. I dont know waht "F" was up to. Sly Dog Smith took the photo.
Both Mal and Sly have crossed the bar.

Martin Bowerman on board Lyle Claussen's 40 footer in the Walker River in 1977.

This is Slydog Bob Smith upstream of the barrage in the Walker River. He was warned, but fortunately survived the day.

Bob and Mal operated a small business during the early 1970's making rods in Townsville, mal was at the time a Radio/TV announcer for the ABC and Bob was a dental technician.
Bob gave in to a heart attack at an early age, I think he was 41 at the time. Mal of course went on to establish his own company making fishing documentaries and commercially made lures. His classic presentation was "Big Fish Down Under" which received critical reports from all over. He once remarked that "fishing for Balck Marlin off the coast of Cairns was akin to standing under a cold shower, ripping $20 notes apart" Lots of people would, of course, disagree.

troamaru · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:31 am Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Good Pictures mate thanks for sharing!

2rods · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:19 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Awesome stuff.... Either men of steel or daft to be in that water :-)

thanks for the history lesson..

doors off · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:42 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Brilliant stuff mate. Thank you for sharing, brings back lots of memories from my childhood looking at my dads & my mates dads albums as a kid. Fantastic.

Cheers,
Doors Off

barra mick · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:36 am Post subject: Re: Old Photos

agree ,,,great to look at old pictures .

thanks for the effort

BarraMick · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:54 am Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Good pics.

Spook · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:16 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

This is Mal Florence in 1972

Sly Smith in 1977

Danny Dades girlfriend Maggie at Truant Island at the first Gove Billfish Classic

Corry Cats and his crew at Truant with a $10,000 Marlin

Me when I was a deckie for Wood on Sea Baby 2 about 1975

Me when I was skipper of the 43ft HMG "Avis" coming bank into Cairns after a day billfishing

Mr RiverBabe · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:46 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Great old pics mate. Love them all......

barra mick · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:24 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

oh got to love the sly smith 1977 photo !!!!!!!

a boat full of barra ....of all sizes !!!! my old pics of that era have a 30 meter rope line full of murray cod.

i even love the name sly smith.

Agent86 · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:58 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Great old pics!!! good stuff

Reminded me of working on boats.

Spook · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:06 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

"Sly-Dog" sometimes was referred to as "Sly" when he was in favour, at other times when he was neck deep in it, it was "Dog"
Whoever gave him that handle did it right. He was prone to some very slippery tricks when fishing with him. For example, we would stop at a likely looking snag, and he would appear to be the gentleman by saying"you go first,mate" and then as soon as I had begun my retrieve, his lure would land almost on top of mine, and if there was a barra there, he would hook up first. I remember one occasion way back then when ceramic guides were first introduced. being a rod maker, he had access to all the latest gear, and his equipment was always in flawless condition. In fishing camps, and if someone had rubbed him the wrong way, he was known to take a small round file and gently rub the wearing surface of the first rod guide so that it became very rough, and fatal on mono lines....... braids were not even thought of then............... with the result that the user would fall victim to his sabotage. When the problem, but not the culprit, was discovered, he would offer the bloke his "stand-by" rod, which might have been notoriously soft at the working end, again with expected results, or as the case may be, non-results. he would win the day, and after the event he would replace the suspect guide with a new one, of course at mates rates, free of charge.
You had to get out of bed very early to get the upper hand on him.

Spook · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:53 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

barra mick wrote:

oh got to love the sly smith 1977 photo !!!!!!!

a boat full of barra ....of all sizes !!!! my old pics of that era have a 30 meter rope line full of murray cod.

i even love the name sly smith.

Yep, we don't do that these days, sanity prevails.

Till · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Hey spook what do u mean $10000 marlin? I'm good mates with the son of the bloke with the beard in that photo. What year was it?

Spook · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:50 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

The Nt Govt offered $1000 for the first 5 Sails caught on regulation tackle and $5000 for the first 5 marlin caught the same way. Corry caught 2 qualifying blacks during the tournament making a total of $10000.
The bloke with the beard is Danny Dade, who was Corrys skipper

ronje · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:31 pm Post subject: Re: Old Photos

Hello Spook

Did you ever come across Bruce Dalman on Sea Strike out of Cairns?

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